Steer-by-Wire Drift Assistance for Sustained Vehicle Slip Control
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicles lack an effective system to assist drivers in executing and sustaining a drift maneuver, which requires a high degree of skill and practice.
Innovation Solution
A drift assistance system that includes controllers to monitor hand wheel rotation and drift criteria parameters, adjusting the steering ratio through a steer-by-wire system to assist in maintaining a drift maneuver, and providing tactile feedback.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a driver manually controls the vehicle to execute a drift maneuver, then the drift can be initiated, but it requires a high degree of skill and practice to sustain the maneuver
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors drift criteria parameters (lateral acceleration, yaw rate, steering angle, vehicle speed) and provides real-time feedback by adjusting the steering ratio through the steer-by-wire system to sustain the drift maneuver. This closed-loop feedback mechanism automatically maintains drift conditions without requiring manual skill adjustment.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically changes the steering ratio parameter from a nominal value to an increased value when drift conditions are detected. This parameter modification allows the vehicle to enter and sustain drift maneuver by altering the steering characteristics to match drift requirements.
2Ease of operation
If the steering ratio is increased to sustain drift maneuver, then control over vehicle slip angle is enhanced, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The steer-by-wire system performs multiple functions: normal steering operation and drift assistance. By making the steering system multi-functional, the patent avoids adding separate drift control hardware while still providing enhanced slip angle control during drift maneuvers.
Solution Approach 2:
The system automatically detects drift conditions based on monitored parameters and self-adjusts the steering ratio without requiring additional driver input or complex external control systems. The vehicle's existing sensors and actuators are utilized to provide the assistance.
3Device complexity
If software-based adjustments are used to modify steering ratio, then additional hardware is avoided, but the precision of steering control may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces potential mechanical drift assistance hardware with software-based control algorithms running on the existing steer-by-wire system. The software dynamically adjusts the steering ratio through electronic control, achieving precise steering modulation without additional mechanical components.
Data Source
AI summary
A drift assistance system that assists a driver of a vehicle in sustaining a drift maneuver includes one or more controllers that each include one or more processors that execute instructions to compare a rotation angle of a hand wheel with a minimum hand wheel angle entry value for a minimum amount of entry time and compare each of a plurality of drift criteria parameters with a corresponding entry value. In response to determining the rotation angle of the hand wheel is greater than the minimum hand wheel angle entry value for the minimum amount of entry time and each of the plurality of drift criteria parameters satisfy their corresponding entry value, the one or more controllers shift an executed position of the hand wheel closer to an ideal drift region associated with the hand wheel so that the drift maneuver is executed successfully.